I’m 26 and have ALWAYS wanted to go to med school. I took all the pre-reqs and the MCAT as an undergrad, but didn’t do well with either. My GPA was dismal and I had only a 22 on the MCAT. I applied and was rejected. A courtesy call from Penn State Hershey told me that I needed to enroll in a post-bacc program. I’m in my last semester of graduate school getting my teaching license and have a 3.9GPA. But I still feel unfulfilled. I’ve matured a lot and now realize that I really need to be a doctor more than anything. But what do I have to do to get there? My pre-reqs were taken between August 2001 and May 2004. Am I eligible for a post-bacc program? Everything I’ve seen is for students who don’t have all of the pre-reqs… Or do I need to let my previous science classes “age” a bit more before applying to a post-bacc so it is as though I haven’t taken any before because they would be too old? Any help is really appreciated! Thanks!
post bacc is for people who 1) do not have a background in science and need to take the pre reqs and 2) those that need to redo them and do better.
If your pre-reqs are sub par then you either need to repeat them and do well or give it time and take upper level, graduate level science courses to show that you can do the work. Either way, you need to show that you can do the work. This will take time, do not rush.
Thanks so much! If I take my pre-reqs again, can I take them two at a time? PSU-Hershey told me they needed to see that I could handle the heavy course load and that is why they referred to the post-bacc programs. Does working full-time, volunteering, and taking 2 science classes a semester show that? thanks for your help!
My opinion (and this is just one opinion) is that if you are going to do this right given your situation, you need to heed the advice of the medical school and enroll in a formal post-bacc program. That being said, I am unsure as to what your circumstances allow.
I do understand why the medical school is saying what they are saying. I think this is also something you need to prove to yourself. Medical school is INCREDIBLY rigorous. In my opinion, the content isn’t difficult. What is difficult is the sheer volume of material and the speed at which you are required to process it and then commit it to memory. As has been discussed on the forums before, it is akin to attempting to drink from a fire hose.
A little “philosophical” discussion…perhaps we are sometimes a little too “touchy, feely” on this forum which I think at times hurts, rather than helps, those we are sharing our thoughts with. We are so determined to support one another’s dreams that we are extremely careful to not introduce something that may dash the dream. Medical school is an expensive process, both in what is required to get in and the costs once one is admitted. To fail out of medical school can mean an extraordinary amount of debt without a career to back it up. In my opinion, it is EXTREMELY important for people to carry a full load of heavy science/math coursework for a couple of semesters to be sure that they can handle it. That experience will only begin to match what it’s going to be like in medical school.
All the best in however you decide to attack it!